India and South Africa Customs Union had a discussion to achieve a Preferential Trade Agreements with the two sides holding a virtual meeting to discuss the various aspects of PTA.
The Indian side at the dialogue was led by Srikar Reddy, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce while SACU was led by Amb. Steve Katjiuanjo, Executive Director, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and SME Development of Namibia.
Reddy underlined India’s historically close ties with Southern Africa and its steadfast commitment to deepen economic engagement with this region. He informed that in 2019-20, trade between India and Africa as a whole stood at $ 66.7 billion, of which the India-SACU trade was $ 10.9 billion with immense potential to expand further.
Amb Katjiuanjo called India as a strategic partner for SACU. Trade is currently in SACU’s favor, thus showing that the region is benefiting from access to the vast Indian market.
India stood fully committed and ready to support manufacturing and industry in Namibia in areas such as agriculture, irrigation, renewables, ICT, pharma and medical supplies. Both sides reviewed the progress made and discussed steps to quickly move forward on the PTA.
